I've owned my Stilo Arbath for a few months now

My problem is that the dipstick never shows anything other than the odd bit of oil, probably scraped from the side of the block on it's way out...

I've topped up fully, and it was also in for it's 3 yr service at Fiat that included a full oil change, but still nothing...

No low oil warning lights...

Engine sounds fine....

Engine runs fine....

I'm just a bit stumped..

maybe i have a shorter dipstick from a different car?!?!

Can anyone confirm that the dipstick on an arbath has a red handle?

Anyone had a similar issue or have an idea to what the hell is going on??

Cheers, TriO`

its often too clear to see. take stick out wipe clean, put back in, then run a fag paper down it starting from about an inch above the max line, the paper will show the oil when it hits it

I had suspected that but it is not the case unfortunately...

The dipstick comes out practically dry, with no drips of oil. Just random bits that look like they have been scraped off on the way in/out

I'm really confused.

Can anyone tell me the proper length of the dipstick for an Arbath?

Any other Ideas??

There's definitely no oil leaks either

Cheers, TriO`

Doesn't the Abarth have a dashboard oil level display like the JTD :chin:

only the early ones before 54, mine aint got the matrix display

Mine only ever show's full when I top it up.. The Abarth in particular burns it by the bucket load! I'm using the 1 litre per thousand miles which is in Fiat's specs.. At 25k per year thats a lot of oil to spend £'s on..

I'd top it up and keep an eye on it!

OK TriO - two things, firstly no, the Abarth - even the 'early' model with the matrix display - does not have an oil level indicator or a low oil level warning. It has oil pressure and temperature gauges but they're not the same thing, though an experienced motorist may judge when the oil is low from the time it takes to warm the oil to coolant temperature (I do this in my Uno Turbo, if I see that the engine oil's warming up particularly quickly, I check the level and find it's low ).

Secondly, yes the Abarth seems to have this reputation for high oil consumption - ShoweeNick is right. So of all the models, it probably needs the level indicator the most!

My particular car is fine (less than 0.5 litre per 6000 miles, which is one-twelfth the consumption that ShoweeNick reports) and so I believe it has something to do with how well the piston rings bedded-in when the engine was new - they come from the factory filled with synthetic oil, which probably hinders the running-in process - especially if driven too-gently. That's my theory anyway, based on running-in many rebuilt engines and learning the hard way that synthetic - or friction-modified - oil from the start is NOT the way to go, needs about 1000 miles on plain oil, which is why older FIATs always had the initial 'free service' at 1500km to change this running-in oil for 'normal' oil. The Stilo, to my knowledge, is the first FIAT not to have this 1500km service - the first oil change is at 20,000km or one year.

What I would do with your car is to drain the oil out and change it, pouring in the correct quantity of new oil, which about 4.5L I think. The oil filter is amazingly difficult to get to, so if not actually due for an oil change, I would advocate changing just the oil this time, and change the filter next time... i.e. an oil change at 6,000miles, a filter change at 12,000miles. You may like to consider using a slightly thicker oil (ask your dealer/workshop what they suggest) as that may make a big improvement. e.g. a 15W50. Or, you might like to try using a 'Stop Smoke' additive (even though there isn't a smoke problem) - one that claims to reduce oil consumption and burning. Let us know how you get on?

Oh and to answer your question - the dipstick is 64.5cm (25.45") from the very top of the red handle (the top of the ring that you put your finger in) to the very tip of the end

Thanks,
-Alex

Well - here's a blast from the past for you...! No-one replied after me, but I will.

Same emotion now with my current Stilo as TriO` reported... I pull the dipstick and wonder "where's my oil?"

Unlike my original Stilo, the oil seems to disappear.
I changed it about 2,000km ago, and since then, at least a litre has gone. Possibly more, I topped it up but wasn't sure the level had been right in the first place. I'm using Penrite 10W50.

This is nothing like my original Stilo.

A few years ago I had an Alfa 156 with Twinspark CF3 engine - same oil consumption problem. The solution I used then was rather drastic - stripped the engine and found very narrow 2mm-wide oil control rings (bottom piston rings) with tiny holes blocked up. I machined out the piston grooves to accept earlier Twinspark rings, oil control rings 3mm wide, with slots rather than holes to drain the oil 'squeegied' off the bores (by the oil control rings).

Result: oil consumption down from 1L in 1,200km to 1L in 10,000km. So, I now think this is the cause of high oil consumption - oil control rings not working. The compression piston rings were fine - good compression (210psi) and full power, no clouds of blue smoke. Therefore a cylinder hone and full ring set was probably unnecessary.

This leads me to two questions:
- if anyone has taken apart a Stilo Abarth engine, did you find really narrow 2mm oil control rings with tiny holes?
and
- I'm not sure the rings need to be replaced - maybe just the holes need to be cleaned - perhaps some kerosene could be added to the cylinders (spark plugs removed), could be left to soak in, engine cranked over, etc. and this process repeated a few times before changing the oil?

-Alex